St. Joe journalism program receives 33 awards

 

MADISON – St. Joseph  School’s journalism program took home 33 Scholastic Press Association awards for The Bear Facts; The Shield, the school yearbook; and The Josephian, the school literary magazine. The awards included 16 first-place finishes in competition against 1A-3A schools statewide. Sophomore Jack H. was named sports writer of the year, teacher Terry C. was named newspaper adviser of the year, and the student newspaper was named best in state. (Photo by Terry Cassreino)

Artist donates to drawdown


Brother McGrath donated this painting of Sr. Thea Bowman to her namesake school while here for a visit. (Photo by Fabvienen Taylor)

JACKSON – Brother Mickey McGrath presented four workshops for different groups around the diocese during a visit the week of April 6. First, he led a workshop at the diocesan school principals’ retreat where administrators drew mandalas using different symbols and then talked about the meaning of each.

Then he joined 90 people, 45 at Madison St. Francis of Assisi School and another 45 the next day at Tupelo St. James Parish to present a Lenten retreat called “Cloud of Witnesses,” where they talked about saints and holy people in the church.

Before he left, Brother McGrath gave a workshop to the students, staff and faculty at Jackson Sister Thea Bowman School and donated one of his paintings of Sister Thea to the school for the drawdown, which is set for Saturday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. For information on the drawdown, call the school, 601-352-5441.

Service focus of Feast of St. Joseph

MADISON/JACKSON – Father Ricardo Phipps, top, delivers the homily at Madison St. Joseph High School on the feast of St. Joseph, Wednesday, March 19, in front of the St. Joseph’s altar the school puts together every year. Students and families donated food for the poor to decorate the altar. Above, Father Mike O’Brien blesses the St. Richard School and Parish St. Joseph’s altar. While St. Joseph has been putting up their altar for years, this is the first year for St. Richard. Tradition holds that the people of Sicily were saved from a famine after they prayed for the intersession of St. Joseph. Italian families have honored the saint’s feast day ever since, sharing their food with the poor. (Photos by London Hatten and Maureen Smith)

Hispanic leaders share successes, challenges

By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – Hispanic leaders of the Diocese of Jackson gathered on Wednesday, March 26, with two goals in mind, to present the reality of each parish and the greatest challenges they have as parish leaders. Bishop Joseph Kopacz, Jeanne Howard, director of the Office of Faith Formation, Cathy Cook, superintendent of Catholic Schools and Msgr. Elvin Sunds, vicar general, were invited to attend the gathering held at the Cathedral Center.

 Bishop Joseph Kopacz (center) takes notes while Sister Pat Godri, lay ecclesial minister at Carthage St. Anne Parish, makes her five-minute presentation during the Hispanic ministry meeting March 26. More than 50 Hispanic leaders attended and 20 of them addressed the present reality and challenges in their communities. (Photo by Elsa Baughman)

Bishop Joseph Kopacz (center) takes notes while Sister Pat Godri, lay ecclesial minister at Carthage St. Anne Parish, makes her five-minute presentation during the Hispanic ministry meeting March 26. More than 50 Hispanic leaders attended and 20 of them addressed the present reality and challenges in their communities. (Photo by Elsa Baughman)

More than 50 leaders of the different parishes and missions which have Hispanic communities, some of them priests and religious, were present. Twenty of them shared what they are doing to serve in their communities, talking about the services they provide and the needs they face.

They all said they are working hard to accomplish their goals, which are many considering the cultural diversity of their communities, the language, the immigration status of their members, their social needs, etc.

Among the positive things the leaders mentioned are having sacramental preparation, increasing the number of leaders who are serving in the parish, religious education classes for the children, English classes, leadership classes through the Southeastern School of Ministry and in some communities the participation in the Catholic Christian Family Life Movement.

Since each community is different their realities are different too. Some have a priest who speaks Spanish, others have one who reads well in Spanish but can’t hear confessions or counsel those who want to talk about their problems.

Almost all the speakers mentioned their desire for more faith formation classes for their leaders who are willing to serve but don’t have the necessary knowledge to do it. In the majority of the parishes they also need help with youth ministry and faith formation for their members.

Father Tarsisius Pulling, pastor of Indianola Immaculate Conception and St. Benedict the Moor parishes, said when people don’t know much about their faith it’s easy for them to join other religious denominations. This is a problem in many areas of the diocese where Hispanics are being invited to other churches which have Hispanic preachers.

Bishop Kopacz sat in the front row, listening and taking notes. He thanked the group for the hard work they  are doing in their communities and their collaboration with one another.
“This diocese is incredible,” he said. “A lot of people are working in this ministry. We have an office dedicated to help you in your ministry and a newspaper to keep you informed.”
Bishop Kopacz told them he knows the needs are many and different in each community but something positive in this diocese he said is that “there are many priests who say ‘yes’ to learn Spanish and to serve in their communities. It’s something very special in this diocese,” he said.

He announced that a religious order has agreed to send four priests to work in the Delta for five years,  “they are going to be of great help with leadership formation in this area of the diocese,” he pointed out.

During his years of work in the Diocese of Scranton,  Bishop Kopacz served in the Hispanic communities and learned about their culture and their needs.
“Together we can build our lives and grow in communion in our faith,” he told the Hispanic leaders. He encouraged all leaders to keep up their good work as Pope Francis has said, to be missionaries in the name of Christ with joy, hope and confidence.

The programs the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry include the Catholic Christian Family Movement, the School of Ministry, liturgical and leadership workshops, the diocesan Hispanic Encuentro, the Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI) youth leadership, participation in the National Hispanic Encuentro in 2016 and the Integral Pastoral Social Planning in Jackson and Corinth.

Brother Ted Dausch, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, said the meeting was also aimed to give leaders an opportunity to know one another, since there are new people working in the diocese, and to listen to each other  – an opportunity to go from local to diocesan awareness.

“Although the bishop has traveled much, this is an opportunity for him to experience Hispanic ministry as a whole and listen to those who experience it everyday,” he wrote in the invitation email.

Anonymous social media challenges communities

By Maureen Smith
The increasingly anonymous or perceived short-term nature of some social media outlets are causing problems on campuses across the nation. Apps such as Yik Yak, a message system that allows users to post anything without identifying themselves and Snapchat, on which users send photos which the app says will self-delete after a short time, have opened the door to bullying, sexting and other abusive behaviors, according to numerous news reports.

The problem, according to Jean Smith Vaughn, of the Mississippi Attorney General’s office, is that these claims are not true. Law enforcement can track down the identity of a poster and photos can be frozen or even recovered on a phone. “If you make a file, it creates a digital fingerprint on your phone,” she said.

Yik Yak and other messaging programs such as Kik use geolocation so the program only allows users within a certain radius to see posts. That same geolocation can be used to pinpoint a user and then the ‘fingerprint’ can be extracted from the phone, even if the user tries to delete the app.

On Wednesday, March 5, Keith Barnes, Madison St. Joe principal sent out an email to parents about Yik Yak. It read, in part, “The St. Joseph Catholic school administration has been following news about Yik Yak and monitoring for its presence on our campus for the past three weeks.  Unfortunately, late this past week, we became aware that our community has discovered the app and has begun to use it inappropriately.” Barnes went on to say while the school would continue its efforts to eliminate the app parents must also be part of the solution. “If you do not want your child involved in this as a contributor, the only thing you can do is to make efforts to ensure that he or she does not have or use the app.  Perhaps more importantly, please have conversations with your children about the dangers of using their mobile devices in ways that can hurt other people,” he wrote.

Smith Vaughn agrees. “Sit down and talk to your child. It’s that one-on-one contact that’s important,” she said. The State Attorney General’s office offers training focused on internet and social media safety, bullying and more to teachers and parents. She says time and again the most effective solution is keeping an open line of communication. She tells parents to ask their kids specifically about what’s happening at school on social media and not to be discouraged if they don’t answer the first time. At some of her trainings she will wait after the session and some of the kids who would not speak during the session will return to talk to her. “A lot of times, they won’t tell you immediately, but if you wait, the kids will come back,” she said. The same holds true for parents.

She also emphasized that one poor decision can have lasting consequences. In Mobile, Ala., a 14-year old and a 16-year old are both facing charges after they posted separate threats about schools there on Yik Yak. The developers helped investigators find the youth. They claim their app is meant only for people older than 17, but there is currently no way to verify a user’s age incorporated in the app. One of Yik Yak’s founders told CNN programmers plan to geolocate every middle and high school in the country and block the app from those locations, but this feature has not been added and critics point out it will only limit use while students are physically on campus.

“I tell parents and kids the internet is forever. Once you have put something out there you have no control over where it goes,” said Smith Vaughn. While criminal charges may be an extreme example, Smith Vaughn pointed out that potential employers and even colleges and universities are looking at students’ social media presence. Even if a student deletes something he or she has posted, they cannot delete re-posts, forwards or other repetitions. “Snapchat is a favorite of child pornographers,” she said. Because the photos posted to Snapchat claim to disappear some teens may be tempted to post inappropriate photos of themselves, but once a pornographer gets a screen shot that photo can be sent out across other channels.

Vickie Carollo, diocesan director of the Office for the Protection of Children, keeps in touch with the Attorney General’s office in an effort to keep up-to-date with trends in cyber-crime and bullying since they may be signs of or gateways to abuse. She also emphasizes that self-education and clear communication are critical. “Parents have to be educated on the safety of social media. They have to be vocal and engage in frank and continuing dialogue with their children about the dangers of inappropriate usage of social media,” she said.

“Talk to your children about their activities online and on their smartphones and set clear boundaries for what they are and are not allowed to do,” she added saying sometimes just setting those boundaries helps students think twice about what they will post.
She encourages parents to be online with their children — knowing their social media channels and how to navigate them so the children know their parents will see what is happening there.

Bullying rises to a new level on some of these platforms. Because students think they are anonymous they believe they can post vicious comments about one another. Smith-Vaughn explained that even something meant to be a joke can cause problems for the poster. “Taunting and bullying each other to the point that a child may not want to go to school falls under a civil rights-era law and is a misdemeanor. We can prosecute that in youth court,” she explained.

Carollo explained that teasing turns into bullying when “unwanted aggressive behaviors among school-aged children involves a real or perceived power imbalance” or a real or perceived threat. She said it is important to encourage kids to report bullying to a trusted adult and talk to kids about strategies to keep themselves or their friends safe, such as staying near other kids or adults and talking about what they see or experience in schools.
Smith-Vaughn keeps a list of popular social media apps to circulate among her investigators and to use in her workshops with parents, educators and students. She said it is constantly evolving. Right now her list includes:

Messaging/microblogging apps: Yik Yak, Twitter, facebook, What’s App, Wickr.
Video and music apps and websites: You Tube, Vine, Spotify.
Photo and photo-message apps: Instagram, Snapchat,
Location apps: FourSquare.

The Attorney General’s office has a number of downloadable resources on the website ago.state.ms.us/publications/. Scroll down to the Cybercrime section.

Youth Briefs

 

  • CORINTH St. James, Eagle Award ceremony for William Garth, Saturday, April 12, at 2 p.m.
  • BROOKHAVEN St. Francis, Sunday, April 6, Life-Teen Mass at 5:30 p.m. followed by a movie and practice of the stations.
  • – Easter egg hunt for toddlers- third grade will be Sunday, April 13 from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
  • MERIDIAN St. Patrick youth fish fry on Friday, April 11, after the 6 p.m. Stations of the Cross.
  • – The Knights of Columbus are again offering scholarships to children and/or grandchildren of council members. These $500 awards are based on academic achievement and financial need to be used at the college of choice. The application is available on its website, kofc802.org. Details: Tom Zettler, 601-482-7350. Application deadline is May 1.
  • SOUTHAVEN – Penance Service for Sacred Heart School students on Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m.
  • – Christ of King Parish religious education program students will have a reconciliation service on Wednesday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m.
  • JACKSON – Search for Christian Maturity Retreat, sponsored by the Diocese of Jackson for high school juniors and seniors, is June 6-8 at Camp Wesley Pines in Gallman. Cost is $120. Registration deadline is May 4. Details: www.jacksonsearch.com.

 

Bishop celebrates namesake feast in Starkville

STARKVILLE – Bishop Joseph Kopacz celebrated Mass for the feast of St. Joseph at St. Joseph Parish March 19. Children from the community presented him with gifts including a T-shirt. After Mass Bishop Kopacz blessed the traditional St. Joseph’s altar loaded with pastries, breads and food for the poor, and joined the parish for dinner. (Photos by Tomacz Haupt)

St. Therese, Habitat tackle community cleanup project

JACKSON – More than 100 volunteers descended on Greenview Drive, right next to St. Therese Parish on Saturday, March 15, to start tearing down and building up. They were from at least three different denominations as well as Habitat for Humanity and their goal was to start a revitalization for the street and surrounding area.

 Shonda and Kaitlyn de Verteuil with Father Norbert N’Zilamba, OPraem, pastor of St. Therese Parish, bag leaves during a cleanup day near the church. (Photo by Kerryn de Verteuil)

Shonda and Kaitlyn de Verteuil with Father Norbert N’Zilamba, OPraem, pastor of St. Therese Parish, bag leaves during a cleanup day near the church. (Photo by Kerryn de Verteuil)

Kerryn de Verteuil, a Knight of Columbus at St. Therese, organized volunteers from his parish. “We want to remove the blight from South Jackson,” he said. “We’re going to have homeowners here who care about their community. Our land value is going to go up. We’re going to have new people to come to our church and school,” he said.

Several homes on Greenview Drive were abandoned and beyond repair. Habitat was able to purchase these properties and get permits to tear them down and make the street safer and cleaner. While they were at it, organizers decided to clean up the rest of the block as well. Habitat executives said the area has great potential for revitalization.

“You don’t often see a street as blighted as Greenview Drive have such strong community assets and anchors. These anchors include St. Therese Church and School, Peeples Middle School, Key Elementary, the Richard Wright Library, McDowell Road, proximity to the JSU e-Center, close access to I-20, and the stable home ownership on Treehaven Street,” explained Cindy Griffin, executive director of Habitat’s Mississippi Capital Area. “By revitalizing Greenview Drive, we can create an economic engine in South Jackson. More importantly, though, we can change lives – for the families who currently live there and for potential homeowners.

“The dream of those who came together Saturday on Greenview Drive, as well as others who support this work, is that the demolition and clean-up on March 15 will be a catalyst for revitalization of the entire street,” Griffin said.

The project came about thanks in part to an ecumenical effort on the part of the South Jackson Ministerial Association/Alliance, a group of churches who work together to improve their communities.

A member of that group met with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade, who brought in even more churches. Wanda McCurdy with the Billy Graham group said her organization comes into a community to host a crusade with as many churches as may be interested. Before the actual crusade, the group likes to do some sort of service work. This project was just the right fit.

 Habitat volunteers clean up debris and use heavy lawn equipment to cut an overgrown lot.

Habitat volunteers clean up debris and use heavy lawn equipment to cut an overgrown lot.

“It was just such a rewarding thing for me and our group to see what a big difference we could make just lending a hand,” she said.

The actual demolition was handled by a contractor. The volunteers took to the other properties with heavy lawn equipment, rakes, shovels and lots and lots of trash bags. Since the street is close to at least three schools one of the goals was to pick up anything that might pose a threat to the kids walking to and from school including glass, exposed wires and other trash.

The cleanup was a first step, but Habitat is hoping individuals, churches, businesses or civic groups will step up to start planning the revitalization portion of the project.